Goodwill Community Foundation creating
opportunities for a better life
with SmartArt you can present
information in a more visual way using
graphics and diagrams instead of regular
text not only can this add more color
and impact to parts of your presentation
it can also help you illustrate ideas
that may be difficult to put into words
in this example I'd like to create a
graphic that illustrates the chain of
command listed here one way to do this
is to take our existing text and convert
it to SmartArt first select the text you
want to use then go ahead and
right-click mouse over convert to
SmartArt and a little menu will appear
your options will be somewhat limited
because it's harder for PowerPoint to
translate content this way I want a
little more flexibility so I'm going to
show you how to create SmartArt from
scratch to get started go to the insert
tab then click the SmartArt command a
window will appear where you'll find a
list of categories the options you have
to choose from and also a preview to the
right the type of graphic I'm looking
for should be listed under hierarchy why
don't we try this one
when you're ready click OK and the
graphic will be added to your
presentation now you can just click
inside one of the shapes and start
entering your text PowerPoint will even
resize it automatically to make sure all
the information fits alternatively you
can click the tiny arrow on the left
side of the graphic this will open the
task pane you can also enter your
information here by typing next to the
bullets either method is fine just use
whichever one you prefer
sometimes the task pane is better if
you're working with a large graphic or
something that contains a lot of text
next I'd like to
now the two tabs that appear anytime you
have your SmartArt selected you can see
them up here on the ribbon we'll take a
look at the design tab first from here
an easy way to add more shapes to your
graphic is to select a shape near the
spot you have in mind then click the
arrow next to the command that says add
shape you can add one after or before
your selected shape which will place
them on the same level right next to
each other or you can add one above or
below ii thought i should have placed
this one level higher in the chain of
command right below the president that's
okay we can change the level of any
shape using demote to move it down or
promote to move it up you can also
adjust your layout from within the task
pane I'll use the same shape to
demonstrate press the tab key to demote
then backspace to promote it again it's
a lot like creating an outline with a
multi-level list you can even add
bullets to the list by pressing enter
which will create another shape in the
graphic now I'm going to go ahead and
delete the shapes I'm not using by
selecting them both then pressing
backspace or delete on my keyboard now
my smart
is almost done it's just a little plain
so the next thing I'd like to show you
is how to change the look of your
graphic using SmartArt styles click the
drop down arrow here to see the full
list of styles and as always mouse over
the options for a preview I think I like
this one the best I recommend taking a
look at colors too just click the change
colors command these come from whatever
theme or color palette you've applied to
your presentation so your options will
vary
finally it's never too late to change
the layout of your graphic your choices
can be found in the layouts group I'd
like to try something a little more
outside the box how about this if you
prefer to format the graphic yourself
instead of relying on the built in
styles and colors just switch over to
the format tab here you can fine-tune
the shapes change the text properties
and even apply special effects like a
drop shadow SmartArt makes it easy to
present information that's both eye
catching and easy to understand it's a
great way to incorporate more visuals
into your presentation no matter what
your skill level is with graphics
you